If you're looking for a break from the typical Americanized Asian restaurants in the Charleston area, Quyen is the perfect antidote. The pho is unbelievable. Spring rolls are excellent. Service was not a problem when I was there. Don't let the "Party Kingdom" sign outside fool you, this place is the real deal.
The food is great. The service is friendly, but slow and inadequate. I appreciate the smiles, but I would rather have a waitress that is attentive than happy. Regardless, I will continue to go back for the food; the ski ball, too.
2 stars for service
5 stars for food.
I LOVE Quyen but when we went last week, after getting our food, out waitress disappeared! Never saw her again- never got our drinks refilled, and i waited 15 minutes after finishing eating for the bill to come...it never did....and i had to go up to the counter to get my check!
So frustrating. I love it there so much but service is important to me (and yes, i have worked as a waitress before).
If you want my opinion, Quyens is a great restaurant. However, the waitresses there do NOT get enough credit for all the work they do waiting on our hands and feet. My husband and I come in at least once a week, and don't ask for much. But, every time we've been in there, the service has been absolutely nothing short of excellent. The staff is nothing but beaming with smiles and extremely nice and attentive. I can see it on their faces sometimes that they just don't get the credit that they deserve for what they do. So, when we go in we never fail to make sure the waitresses and waiters get the praise we feel they deserve. The food is better at the end of the week than it is at the beginning. Maybe its just me, or that its Monday, but something about the buffet isn't consistent. While not consistent, its quite appetizing. However, one visit while very tasty was rather weird as we were greeted at the hostess stand by a rather scruffy looking man. He continued to tell my husband and I to have a GREAT time at the Party Kingdom. We were quite confused seeing as how the gentleman wasn't wearing any clothing affiliated with either the Party Kingdom or Quyen's. But overall I love going to Quyen's.
The lunch buffet: visually beautiful, delicious, and incredibly varied. Lots of sushi, hot Vietnamese and Chinese dishes, salads, soup, fresh fruit, and pastries. All for 9.99! Service was very attentive, and I can't wait to go back. I've eaten a lot of Vietnamese food over the years, and this ranks up there with the best. It's too bad they can't put up a decent sign, since you almost have to know about it to find it.
A bizarre but fun experience. the pho and spring rolls are delicious. the rest of the food is mediocre but better than the rest of what I've experience in Charleston as far as Vietnamese food.
Fantastic pho. The city I'm originally from has a lot of Vietnamese restaurants and Quyen is easily one of the best bowls of pho I've ever had, although it's a little pricy. Get the bowl with tripe and tendon. It's all about the broth, tendon makes the broth thicker and fuller. Besides, if you've had a hot dog you've had it all before anyways. I don't care if there's a paper mill in the back, I'll go at least once a week for the soup.
Unfortunately, I was NOT at the Live X show. However, I was forced to listen to every note in Tall Pines! I hope the promoters can consider the fact that music from the concert was clearly heard as far as Crowfield, 2+ miles from the event. Next year PLEASE, could you reorient the speakers or keep the volume down?
There will never again be any reason to go to Chuck E. Cheese's. Quyen/Party City has the same for-pay games but also:
1. A very big indoor play structure/tree-house/slide
2. A big, padded play floor for toddlers and crawlers
3. GOOD FOOD
The pho was indeed delicious, as was the vermicelli salad and the Rock'n'rolls. Service was leisurely but for once we weren't under the gun to get the kids fed... too busy having a lot of fun. Warning: it is a bit ghetto fab, but the kids certainly loved it and the food made up for it too.
Bulldog Tours is awesome - they do a lot of fundraising for local preservation of historic buildings. Check em out.
We eat lunch at Quyen approximately once a week during work lunch hour, love the food and always have excellent fast, friendly service. The pho is great. I get my pho american style (ie chicken breast meat), but I have heard people order it Vietnamese style as well (with tendons and tripe) and have overheard good commments. BTW, the small pho is actually a full size bowl of soup, the large is huge. My particular favorite is the Vietnamese Crepe, its always delicious!!!
The best Vietnamese (only?) food on the island. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no sense of urgency from any of the staff. I want to love this place, but it is painfully slow. Vietnamese restaurants in D.C. are so efficient the meals arrive almost too quickly. Maybe as they get busier they will get faster. Two of the dishes we ordered were unavailable the last time and when I inquired as to where the dish was they said the reason we didn't get it is because they didn't have it. I actually watched the server ask the chef about the dish and he dismissively waived his hand at her and said, "Go away." Amazing.
My family of 4, including 2 very suspicious teenagers, just ate at Quyen tonight. I had been there before and am very impressed with the newly redecorated dining area. The ambiance is significantly improved. The food was delicious and the waitstaff helpful, cheerful and attentive. Our particular waitress (Sydney) was a delight. The rest of my family were newcomers to the restaurant and were confused and amused by the presence of a kids' arcade in the back. But everyone agreed they'd like to come again and try other menu items.
The food is excellent. The service has always been very attentive and friendly. My wife and I have eaten here so many times in the past two weeks that the owner probably thinks we are stalking them. That is how good it is. The beef salad is better than any other to be found in Charleston (including Basil). The pho is delicious, and the sushi is quite good too, although we have been focusing on the Vietnamese section of the menu. Now here is the best part: you don't need to find a babysitter- just bring the kids and send them off to the Party Kingdom in the back. Everyone leaves here happy!!!
Last night, My husband and I went to Quyen and truly enjoyed ourselves. We shared the Beef Pho and Pad Thai and were amazed at how authentic it was. And with my mother being full Vietnamese, I feel that i know what true Vietnamese food taste like. Since our last visit a few weeks ago, I can honestly say that the service has greatly improved. Our young waitress was very friendly and attentive and I know that my family will be paying Quyen a visit very soon.
Thanks for providing food that reminds me of home :)
Tonight was the first time we tried Quyen since it changed names from Party Kingdom. The inside was beautifully decorated and the waitresses were attentive and knowledgeable.
We ordered dinner- Pad Thai, Chicken Pho, and the house Crepe. Everything was great and tasty- the pho was enjoyable and my husband inhaled his crepe. Now, a question- does Pad Thai have red and green peppers and onions? Not traditional pad thai (i even googled recipes to see how it should be made). It was good- but strange.
There was an extensive sushi menu, which we didn't order from- not because we didn't want to, but the speciality sushi seemed very pricey. 11-14 dollars- too much for even GREAT sushi. This is Charleston, not NYC.
Overall, good experience, good food. We are impressed with the decorum change and will be going there when we want pho but won't be getting sushi....or the pad thai.
It appears the fine people at Quyen, have read the criticism on this board and taken corrective action. My girlfriend and I dined at this newly re-opened restaurant and had a delightful experience with a very attentive staff, who immediately sat us at a table and constantly checked on us. The atmosphere is very nice considering that it used to be a children's arcade. The play and gaming facilities are still there but are tucked away in the rear of the building. They have a nice beer and Sake selection and i cannot wait for the sushi buffet to open. From the look of the buffet tables, its going to be huge! I highly recommend the Vietnamese crepe, it is absolutely excellent and the accompanying house made fish sauce is absolutely divine. This is an exciting culinary addition to James Island. Now, if someone would only open a Five Loaves or an Ali Baba over here...we would be set!
You are right, the service is a weakness of theirs, they don't know how to keep drinks refilled, how to clear a table as you eat and how to stop by the table and ask if everything is OK. The food is SO good, I'll still go there and probably learn to get my own drinks. Last time I was there I got my own menus. Customer service is something many restaurants never seem to get.
2 star service, 5 star food
Re: “Quyen”
I took my dear sweet roomie and her boyfriend to Quyan tonight. The place is kind of hard to pick out. Just look for the big sign that says "Party Kingdom" to the left of the Piggly Wiggly and go on in. It's Friday night and buffets are a lunch time affair, so we perused the menu and also little slips of paper that were the "2-4-6" deal. For twelve dollars we each got an appetizer, soup and a main course. It was absolutely delicious from beginning to end. Our waiter was very attentive, but then the place was pretty much empty, which I thought was kind of weird for a Friday at 6 pm for a place that does serve beer and wine. Anyway, our service was awesome, our food was fantastic, and then we went into the back of the place, which could benefit from an occasional Febreze spritz. It's really a little surreal. The front is classy and quiet and the back is a little haven of screaming kids. We enjoyed some skee ball at the end. It's actually a pretty great way to end a meal. Anyway, thumbs way up! Go! That place should NOT be empty after work on Friday!